Food Container With Forced Moisture Removal

ABSTRACT

A method, a food container, a lid, and pad for a food container that actively removes moisture in the food container without changing the food temperature inside the container in a meaningful way are disclosed herein. The removal of moisture is achieved by introducing a cold spot (below the dew point temperature) inside the food container that forces condensation of moisture near the cold spot. The condensed moisture is then captured by an absorbent element placed below, and preferably adjacent to/collocated with, the cold spot and between the cold spot and the stored food. The cold spot is preferably achieved by a properly chosen frozen substance such as an ice cube or a frozen gel packet or ice trapped inside an absorbent pad.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a continuation-in-part of a co-pending UnitedStates patent application entitled “Food Container With Forced MoistureRemoval,” having Ser. No. 14/709,365, filed on May 11, 2015, claimingpriority to a Unites States provisional patent application entitled“Food Container With Forced Moisture Removal,” having Ser. No.61/993,949, filed on May 15, 2014, both of which are entirelyincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Crispy or crunchy food stored in a food container becomes soggy after avery short period of time. Because of this, delivered or take-out foodrarely tastes as good as it is served in a restaurant, and lunchesprepared at home in the morning are not as delicious as they should be.

This problem is caused by moisture trapped in the food container.Existing solutions, such as US Patent Publication No. 2010/00320210,passively vent the trapped moisture out of the container. Thesesolutions are limited because relying on air circulation alone, themoisture is not removed fast enough, or at least in an amount of timethat is meaningful to avoid condensation inside the container, andeventually the moisture comes back to the food. In addition, byintroducing ambient air from outside the container (through an openvent), the temperature inside changes, making hot food colder or saladswarmer. Furthermore, since the replacement air that enters the ventedcontainer contains moisture as well, adopting these solutions results inintroducing more moisture into the food container and the food.

Other strategies, such as US Patent Publication No. 2013/0056369, useabsorbent materials placed on the interior side of the lid withpassive/natural convection to absorb moisture. Like the solutionspreviously stated, the absorbent materials do not work well when arelatively large amount of moisture comes up from sizzling food.

Because the problem affects not only people's enjoyment of their lunchesbut also customer satisfaction of businesses that serve take-out food,and food shelf life, food containers that quickly and effectively removemoisture in the containers are needed.

SUMMARY

The structure, overall operation and technical characteristics of thepresent invention will become apparent with the detailed description ofpreferred embodiments and the illustration of the related drawings asfollows.

The invention is incorporated in a method, a food container, and a lidor a pad for a food container that actively removes moisture in the foodcontainer by introducing a localized cold spot (below the dew pointtemperature) inside the food container that forces condensation of themoisture at the cold spot. The condensed moisture is then captured by anabsorbent element placed adjacent to, or collocated with, the cold spotand between the cold spot and the stored food so that condensed moistureextracted from the air inside the food container is trapped within theadsorbing substrate and the food does not become soggy beforeconsumption.

An exemplary food container may or may not be sealable, such as acovered salad bowl, a pizza box, or a Styrofoam® box. The localized coldspot may comprise any cold substance, such as ice or a gel packet, andoptionally a holder for the cold substance. The optional cold substanceholder may at least include a bottom portion exposed to, preferablyinside, the interior of the food container. The bottom portion may bemade of materials with at least some heat transfer capability (i.e. lowthermal resistance or high thermal conductivity). An example of the coldsubstance holder is a small receptacle, such as a plastic sauce cup or aramekin, attached to the lid on the interior side, after a coldsubstance, such as ice, is contained inside.

For an embodiment of the food container that does not include a coldsubstance holder, the cold substance, such as a frozen gel packet, orice, may be coupled to the lid and exposed to the interior of the foodcontainer. The cold substance is preferably frozen before use so thatthe intended condensation formation may be sufficiently fast andsustained. With a proper cold substance, the temperature of the coldspot is substantially at or below the dew point temperature. Therefore,the moisture inside the food container is exposed to the cold spot andcondensation of vapor inside the container is forced to happen at acontrolled localized feature.

Additionally, because the condensation of the moisture is forced, theabsorbent element need not, but may, be substantially made of adesiccant element with hygroscopic qualities. Any absorbent materialsincluding some inexpensive options such as paper towels, napkins,sponges, air-laid fibers, and tissues may be adopted as the absorbentelement. The absorbent element is placed between the cold spot and thefood, preferably adjacent to and below the cold spot. In addition, it ispreferred that the lid further comprises a drip member, placed betweenthe absorbent element and the food, and preferably coupled to theabsorbent element, in order to prevent the absorbent element fromreleasing the captured condensate when reaching its saturation limit,which ideally would never happen. The drip member may be a tray or afilm of materials that allows water vapor but not liquid water frommoving in and out, such as a band aid.

Furthermore, in order to keep the temperature in the exemplary foodcontainer unaffected in a meaningful way, it is preferred that the coldspot comprises a frozen substance that is properly sized so that theheat released by the condensation phase change from vapor (to liquid) isoffset by the heat absorbed by the phase change of the frozen substanceto liquid. That is, the latent heat of vaporization must be balancedagainst the latent heat of fusion. As a general rule of thumb, for every1 gram of ice as the frozen substance in a food container, ¼ gram ofcondensate can be formed without a temperature change within the foodcontainer. Alternatively, the heat released by the condensate formationmay be absorbed by the frozen element without a phase change of thefrozen substance to liquid. For example, ice made from an ordinary icecube tray may be sufficient for condensing the vapor moisture inside alunch box containing hot food, and when the ice cube melts, the foodtemperature is substantially unchanged.

Preferably, the amount of cold (preferably frozen) substance to be usedwould vary to coincide with the mass of the food inside the containerand the moisture contained therein (by the food mass). Using well-knownthermodynamic principles, those in the art can calculate custom versionsof this invention for each meal, container, and specific application. Inpractice, it is preferred to create preset sizes (e.g., small, medium,large, etc,) depending on the approximate food mass and container size.

One embodiment of a condensation extracting insert for a food containerwith forced moisture removal comprises: a cold substance holderconfigured to contain a cold substance, such as ice or any non-toxicrefrigerant gel/liquid, and a moisture absorbent element. The exemplaryinsert is configured, preferably with an adhesive attachment, to couplethe insert to the interior wall of the food container's lid/cover, andits moisture absorbent element is located between the cold substanceholder and food inside the food container. In addition, the exemplaryinsert may further comprise members stated above, such as a drip-proofmember and an opening for accommodating the cold substance holder.

In another embodiment of the food container, the cold substance holdermay be an independent inserted assembly that is self-supported andpreferably removably coupled to the food container. The exemplary coldsubstance holder may comprise a receptacle for holding the coldsubstance, such as a small cup, a ramekin, or an adsorbing pad, and astand for supporting the receptacle, such as a tripod. Alternatively,the cold substance holder may be merely a stand for supporting the coldsubstance, such as a pizza box tent for holding a frozen gel packet. SeeU.S. Pat. No. 4,498,586. Like the embodiments previously described, inthis preferred embodiment, the absorbent element and the drip member arepreferably placed near the cold spot, such as being attached to thebottom of the receptacle.

One embodiment of the method for actively removing moisture from a foodcontainer comprises the following steps:

-   -   providing the following items:        -   the food container having a lid, a base coupled to the lid,            and an interior space formed between the lid and the base,        -   a cold substance holder having an interior bottom portion            and an exterior bottom portion, and        -   a moisture absorbent element coupled to the exterior bottom            portion of the cold substance holder;    -   placing a frozen element, such as an ice cube or a gel packet,        onto the interior bottom portion of the cold substance holder;    -   placing the cold substance holder in the interior space of the        food container and coupling the cold substance holder to the        food container, either at the lid or the base, with the exterior        bottom portion oriented toward the base of the food container;    -   placing food inside the food container; and    -   closing the food container.

Although the steps of the exemplary method are illustrated in a specificorder, a person skilled in the art would know that the steps may beimplemented in any alternate orders as long as forced condensation ofmoisture inside the food container is achieved and the condensedmoisture is captured. In addition, the embodiment of the method mayfurther comprise a step of providing a drip-proof member as illustratedabove. Furthermore, the food container provided in this embodiment mayhave other members as stated above.

A third embodiment, which is presently preferred, employs adding apre-determined amount of liquid to an absorbent pad, pre-freezing it,and then sticking it to the inside of a food box. In this embodiment,the moisture-removing pad to be coupled to a food container comprises acold-substance-holding, moisture absorbent layer (the “absorbent layer”)at the bottom side and an adhesive layer at its top side. The absorbentlayer in this embodiment is configured to hold the cold substance eitherin its liquid or solid form. Once the cold substance is trapped insidethe absorbent layer in its solid form, this embodiment may be placedinside a food container to force condensation as illustrated above andfurther absorb the condensate from the moisture inside the foodcontainer. As to the adhesive layer of this embodiment, it is configuredto attach the embodiment to the upper interior wall of the foodcontainer, no matter what the ambient temperature is. In thisembodiment, the adhesive layer may cover, entirely or partially, the topside of the embodiment as long as it provides sufficient adhesion.

Furthermore, the embodiment is preferably configured so that itsabsorbent layer is capable of absorbing, and not releasing, not only thecondensate from the moisture but also the entire cold substance thatturns into its liquid form after the heat exchange (i.e. melting). In anexemplary embodiment, the absorbent layer is made of air-laid fiber (orsimilar materials) with a 0.06″ thickness and comprises a footprintsurface area of 3.5″×3.5″, and the adhesive layer is made of atemperature resistant adhesive, that is at least resistant tosub-freezing temperatures, such as emulsion acrylic adhesive, solventacrylic, silicone based adhesive, and so forth.

Water is the preferred liquid, but any food safe substance that can beabsorbed by the absorbent layer as a liquid, then frozen (or chilled)will suffice (because it will force condensation inside a foodcontainer). In practice, it has been found that adding 1 teaspoon ofwater (measured in liquid form) to an absorbent layer and then freezingit is generally sufficient to maintain the temperature of a foodcontainer with up to four (4) ounces of food. In general, for containerswith more food than four (4) ounces of food, it is preferred to includean additional one (1) teaspoon of water in the absorbent layer for everyadditional three (3) ounces of food prior to freezing the pad.

Indeed, applicant's test results of an exemplary pad with3.5″×3.5″×0.06″ air-laid absorbent fibers and 1 tablespoon of (20° F.frozen) water show a 35% reduction in relative humidity between treatedand untreated food containers with no more than 12 ounces of 200° F.food.

The method of introducing the liquid (e.g. water) into the absorbentmaterial is immaterial. Water can be added by spraying, misting,pouring, dipping, etc., provided the quantity introduced is appropriatefor the given conditions. Following the introduction of the liquid, theentire pad is preferably frozen where it is stored waiting for use. Whenready to use the frozen pad will be adhered to an inside surface of thefood container, preferably the underside of the lid.

The presently preferred method for forcing moisture removal in a foodcontainer comprises the steps of:

-   -   introducing a predetermined amount of cold substance into an        absorbent layer;    -   freezing the pad with the cold substance in the absorbent layer;        and    -   adhering the pad to an upper interior wall of the food container        by an adhesive layer at a top side of the pad.

To use this exemplary embodiment inside a pizza box, the user may:

-   -   spray, evenly pour, or drip 2 teaspoons of water on the        absorbent layer; after the water is absorbed by the absorbent        layer, put the embodiment in a freezer;    -   take the embodiment out of the freezer after the water inside        the absorbent layer freezes (ideally at 20° F. or lower,        depending on the operating limitations of the specific adhesive        used in the adhesive layer); and    -   affix the embodiment inside the lid of the pizza box with the        adhesive layer.        Now the pizza box is ready for a fresh pizza for delivery or to        be enjoyed later. A person skilled in the art would know that a        larger pizza may require two or more such embodiments. Indeed,        Applicant's experiments show little or no discernible effect on        the food quality by removing too much condensate using this        method with more than enough such embodiments.

In addition, the embodiment may further comprise a backing layerconfigured to removably couple to the adhesive layer at the top side toprevent the adhesive layer from adhering to objects other than theintended lid of the food container before use. The embodiment may alsohave a moisture barrier layer between the adhesive layer and theabsorbent layer so that the absorbed condensation or cold substance doesnot compromise the effectiveness of the adhesive layer. Moreover, theembodiment may further include another moisture barrier layer (i.e. adrip member as in other embodiments stated above) below the absorbentlayer, configured to allow vapor, but not liquid, to pass through andthus prevent dripping. The moisture barrier layer between the adhesivelayer and the absorbent layer and the moisture barrier layer below theabsorbent layer in an embodiment may, or may not, be identical inmaterials or dimensions.

An alternate preferred embodiment with an absorbent layer, an adhesivelayer, an upper moisture barrier layer between the absorbent layer andthe adhesive layer, a lower moisture barrier layer at the bottom side ofthe absorbent layer, and a (removable) backing layer coupled to theadhesive layer may further include an opening at the top side throughthe backing layer, the adhesive layer, and the upper moisture barrierlayer so that the cold substance may be introduced into the absorbentlayer from the top side. The opening in this embodiment is preferablylocated in the middle of the pad and covering a 20-30% of the footprintsurface area. This preferred embodiment is advantageous because the coldsubstance would be trapped at the back/upper side of the embodiment anddripping is further prevented when the cold substance turns into liquidafter heat exchange with the moisture inside the food container.

Alternate embodiments of the pad may adopt different materials for theaforementioned elements and various shapes and dimensions based on thevolume and dimension of the food container and amount of food. Forinstance, the absorbent layers in an embodiment may be made of anysuitable materials, such as air-laid paper, cellulose sheets, trappedadsorbent powders, and so forth. The moisture barrier layer(s) in thisembodiment may be any suitable commercially available moisture barriers,preferably with FDA approval and edible. Indeed, all the elements in anyembodiment herein are preferably approved by FDA to be safely usedinside a food container.

Additionally, the preferred shapes and dimensions of an exemplaryabsorbent layer depend on its absorbing capacity. For instance, a squareembodiment to be used with an ordinary takeout box may have an absorbentlayer that is made of standard air-laid fiber material with a standarddensity and preferably has a footprint surface area of at least 2″ by 2″(i.e., 4 square inches) and a thickness of 0.06″. Generally speaking,for every additional 4 ounces of food, the air-laid absorbent layer of asimilar embodiment is preferably 0.01″ thicker, but not to exceed 0.1″total thickness, measured dry. Indeed, empirically, thicker pads showdiminishing performance improvement and gradually cease to scale.

Furthermore, the backing layer of an exemplary embodiment may comprisetwo pieces of release paper (e.g. wax paper) overlapping in the middleof the embodiment or alternatively includes an additional tab or afolded edge so that the backing layer can be easily removed anddiscarded from the adhesive layer. In another embodiment, the adhesivelayer may cover only about 90% of the total surface area with a gap inthe middle, and/or along the perimeter/edges, so the backing layer, withtwo separate sheets meeting in the middle when the gap is in the middle,can be easily removed. Additionally, the opening on the top side of anembodiment of the pad, for introducing water to be frozen, preferablytakes 20-30% of the footprint surface area of the absorbent layer; andthe opening may be of various shapes and have a surface area preferablyequal to a circle with a diameter ranging from 1 inch to 5 inches.

Finally, the preferred cold substance for an embodiment of the pad iswater, but any suitable cold substance that can be absorbed by theabsorbent layer as a liquid, freeze, and force condensation inside afood container by phase change (melting) can be adopted. When water isused as the cold substance in an embodiment of the pad, 1 teaspoon ofwater, measured in liquid form, in the absorbent layer, when frozen, isgenerally sufficient to maintain the temperature of a food containerwith up to 4 ounces of food. For a food container with more food, it ispreferred to include an additional teaspoon of water in the absorbentlayer for every additional 3 ounces of food. Indeed, Applicants' testresults of an exemplary pad with 3.5″×3.5″×0.08″ air-laid absorbentfibers and 0.6 teaspoon of water show a 35% reduction in relativehumidity between treated and untreated food containers with no more than12 oz of 200° F. food.

Furthermore, an alternate embodiment of the moisture-removing pad to becoupled to a food container comprises a moisture absorbent layer at thebottom side and an adhesive layer at its top side. In this embodiment,the moisture absorbent layer itself comprises a cold substance. For suchan embodiment, external cold substance may or may not be used formoisture removal. For instance, an embodiment may comprise an air-laid(or similar) moisture absorbent layer that already absorbs sufficientmoisture from the ambient air, so that no more cold substance need beadded.

One object of this invention is to provide an effective and affordablesolution for removing moisture inside a food container by forcedmoisture removal.

Another object of this invention is to provide an effective andaffordable solution for removing moisture without affecting thetemperature inside a food container in a meaningful way.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a cross sectional view of an embodiment.

FIG. 2 shows a cross sectional view of an alternate embodiment.

FIG. 3A shows a top view of another embodiment, with the lid closed.

FIG. 3B shows a top view of the embodiment in FIG. 3A, with the lidopen.

FIG. 3C shows a cross sectional view of the embodiment in FIG. 3A.

FIG. 4 shows a top view of another embodiment, with its lid open.

FIG. 5A shows a top view of an embodiment of the pad to be attachedinside a food container.

FIG. 5B shows a perspective view of the embodiment in FIG. 5A.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The preferred embodiments include a food container, a removable lid fora food container, and a method for removing moisture in the foodcontainer by forced condensation of the moisture and are illustrated inFIGS. 1-5. In FIG. 1, the embodiment is a food box 100 with a base 110and a lid 120. The base 110 may contain food, hot or cold. The lid 120may comprise a frozen element 121, a compartment 122 for containing thefrozen element 121, an absorbent material 123 placed below the frozenelement 121 and the compartment 122, and a drip tray 124. The lid 120and base 110 are coupled together to close the food box 100. Preferably,the food box 110 may have a seal (not shown) between the lid 120 and thebase 110 to achieve a better insulation and moisture control.

The frozen element 121 of the embodiment 100 in FIG. 1 may be any propercold substance such as an ice cube (frozen water) or a frozen gel packetthat may induce condensation of vapor moisture. A suitable compartmentfor containing the frozen element may comprise a depressed area 122 onthe lid 120 as shown in FIG. 1, with or without its own cover forclosing the compartment. Alternatively, the compartment may be locatedabove the rest of the lid. Either way, the bottom portion of thecompartment may have at least some heat transfer capability forfacilitating heat exchange between the frozen element and the vaporinside the food container.

In addition, the embodiment 100 in FIG. 1 further comprises an absorbentmaterial 123 placed inside the food container 100 and below, preferablyvery close to, the bottom portion of the compartment 122. The absorbentmaterial 123 may be made of any suitable materials for capturing andisolating the condensed moisture, such as paper towel as adopted in thisembodiment. The absorbent material 123 in FIG. 1 is supported by a driptray 124, but it may alternatively be coupled to the interior side ofthe lid by any suitable means, such as adhesives and tapes, withoutcontacting the tray. The drip tray 124 may be replaced by any dripmember placed between the absorbent material and the stored food, suchas a plastic film or a band-aid. An alternate embodiment may not have adrip tray or anything alike.

An alternate embodiment 200 as shown in FIG. 2 is substantially similarto the previous embodiment 100. In this embodiment 200, the coldsubstance holder 222 is an insert of the lid 220 configured to hold acold substance 221 and made of a thermal-conductive material. Since thecold substance holder 223 is separate from the cover 225, the cover 225and the base 210 may be made of non-thermal-conductive materials so thatthe food inside is somewhat thermally insulated. In addition, the dripmember 224, a drip tray, of this embodiment 200 has a raised edgeconfigured to stop the moisture absorbent element 223 and releasedcondensate, if any, from moving out of the tray.

FIGS. 3A-3C show another embodiment 300. In this embodiment, the foodcontainer 300 is substantially made of Styrofoam®. A cold substanceholder 322, a plastic sauce cup (e.g. ramekin) in this embodiment, isplaced in a hole cut from the lid 320 and affixed to the lid 320. Rightbelow the cold substance holder 322, a piece of paper towel 323, as anabsorbent material, is coupled to a bottom of the cold substance holder322 and the interior surface of the lid 320 by a band-aid-like, waterresistant, and vapor permeable film 325, working as a drip member of theembodiment, and coupled to the moisture absorbent material 323. Like theembodiment 100, this food box 300 preferably has a seal 326 between thelid 320 and the base 310 (attached to the lid 320 in this embodiment300) to achieve a better insulation and moisture control.

In an alternate embodiment, the food container is identical to theembodiment 300 except that the paper towel 323 is coupled to the lid 320by adhesive tape or backing on four sides without any drip member. In anexperiment with this alternate embodiment, hot food, including a crispytoast, 2 eggs, and a small container with boiling water, was placedinside the embodiment and an ordinary Styrofoam° box as a control foodcontainer, respectively. After that, the lids were closed and an icecube slightly larger than a standard ice cube was placed in the saucecup of the embodiment, which works as the cold substance holder. A shortperiod later, the toast in the control food container became soggy whilethe toast in the embodiment was still crispy and hot. Therefore, theembodiment shows that the invention works as planned.

Another embodiment is shown in FIG. 4. In this embodiment 400, the foodcontainer 400 comprises a base 410, a lid 420 coupled to the base 410,and a cold-substance holding assembly 430 removably coupled to the base410. The cold substance holding assembly 430 comprises a receptacle 431configured to hold a cold substance 500, a stand 432 coupled to andconfigured to elevate the receptacle 431, a moisture absorbent element433 coupled to a bottom of the receptacle 431, and a drip member 434coupled to and placed beneath the moisture absorbent element 433. Thereceptacle 431 in this embodiment 400 may or may not have a cover. Inanother embodiment where the bottom of the receptacle has little heattransfer capability, the forced condensation may occur mostly above thereceptacle, and therefore, the cold substance holding assembly may notinclude a moisture absorbent element or a drip member.

FIGS. 5A and 5B show a preferred embodiment, which features an exemplarypad 500 to be attached inside a food container. This pad 500 comprisesan absorbent layer 510, an adhesive layer 520, a backing layer 530, anupper and lower moisture barrier layers 550 & 560, and an opening 540.The absorbent layer 510 in this pad 500 is sandwiched between twomoisture barrier layers 550 & 560 that allow moisture in the air, butnot liquid water (condensate), to go through. The adhesive layer 520 hasa gap 521 in the middle so that the backing layer 530 with two halvescan be easily removed. Additionally, the opening 540 cuts through thebacking layer 530, the adhesive layer 520, and the upper moisturebarrier layer 550 and is configured to allow cold substance (water) tobe introduced to the absorbent layer 510 from the top.

The amount of cold substance to be used varies depending on how big thefood container is and how much food is to be stored in the foodcontainer. For instance, if the food container is a common takeout boxdesigned to store 10 oz of food, then 1 teaspoon of water should besufficient, while 1 tablespoon of water is preferred. (As stated above,over-extraction of condensation does not appear to affect food quality.)Additionally, the cold substance (water) is preferably trapped in 20-30%of the footprint surface area (L×W) of the absorbent layer 510.

A preferred method to use this pad 500 includes the steps of:

-   1. Introducing a predetermined amount of a cold substance in liquid    form (water) from the top into the opening 540;-   2. allowing the absorbent layer 510 to absorb the water;-   3. putting the pad 500 into a freezer and allowing the cold    substance to turn into solid form (ice); and-   4. retrieving the pad 500, removing the backing layer 530, and    sticking the pad 500 to a food container by the adhesive layer 520.

An alternate embodiment may have no moisture barrier like 560 at thebottom or any opening like 540 on the top. For such an embodiment, thecold substance can be introduced at the bottom, and the absorbent layeris preferably thicker so that no dripping will occur. Those in the artknow how to size the pad for each particular circumstance so that nodripping occurs.

Another alternate embodiment of the moisture-removing pad to be coupledto a food container comprises a moisture absorbent layer at the bottomside and an adhesive layer at its top side. In this embodiment, nomoisture is added to the absorbent element before freezing. The moistureabsorbent layer absorbs sufficient moisture from the ambient air so thatno additional water is needed. Otherwise, the same procedure isfollowed. That is, the moisture-removing pad is first frozen and thenadhered to the food box.

While the invention has been described by means of specific embodiments,numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by thoseordinarily skilled in the art without departing from the score andspirit disclosed herein.

1. A pad for forcing moisture removal in a food container, the padcomprising: (a) an absorbent layer located at a bottom side of the padand configured to hold a cold substance in solid form and absorb acondensate from a moisture in the food container and the cold substancein liquid form; and (b) an adhesive layer located at a top side of thepad and configured to adhere to an upper interior wall of the foodcontainer.
 2. The pad in claim 1 further comprises a backing layerremovably coupled to the adhesive layer at the top side.
 3. The pad inclaim 1 further comprises a moisture barrier layer located between theabsorbent layer and the adhesive layer.
 4. The pad in claim 1 furthercomprises a moisture barrier layer coupled to the absorbent layer at thebottom side.
 5. The pad in claim 1 further comprises an opening on thetop side, through the adhesive layer until the absorbent layer.
 6. Thepad in claim 5, wherein the opening has a surface area ranging from 20%to 30% of a surface area of the absorbent layer at the top side.
 7. Thepad in claim 1, wherein the absorbent layer has a surface area at thebottom side of no less than 4 square inches.
 8. The pad in claim 1,wherein the absorbent layer has a thickness of no more than 0.1 inch. 9.The pad in claim 1, wherein the adhesive layer is temperature resistant.10. A method for forcing moisture removal in a food container comprisingthe steps of: (a) Introducing a predetermined amount of cold substanceinto an absorbent layer at a bottom side of a pad; (b) Freezing the padwith the cold substance in the absorbent layer; (c) Adhering the pad toan upper interior wall of the food container by an adhesive layer at atop side of the pad, wherein the amount of cold substance is determinedbased on a volume and a dimension of the food container.
 11. The methodin claim 10 further comprising the step of removing a backing layer atthe top side of the pad from the adhesive layer.
 12. The method in claim10, wherein the pad further comprises a moisture barrier layer locatedbetween the absorbent layer and the adhesive layer.
 13. The method inclaim 10, wherein the pad further comprises a moisture barrier layercoupled to the absorbent layer at the bottom side.
 14. The method inclaim 10, wherein the pad further comprises an opening on the top side,through the adhesive layer until the absorbent layer, configured toallow introduction of the cold substance into the absorbent layer. 15.The method in claim 14, wherein the opening has a surface area rangingfrom 20% to 30% of a surface area of the absorbent layer at the topside.
 16. The method in claim 10, wherein the absorbent layer has asurface area at the bottom side of no less than 4 square inches.
 17. Themethod in claim 10, wherein the absorbent layer has a thickness of nomore than 0.1 inch.
 18. The method in claim 10, wherein the adhesivelayer is temperature resistant.
 19. A pad for forcing moisture removalin a food container, the pad comprising: (a) an absorbent layercomprising a cold substance, the absorbent layer being located at abottom side of the pad and configured to absorb a condensate from amoisture in the food container; and (b) an adhesive layer located at atop side of the pad and configured to adhere to an upper interior wallof the food container.
 20. The pad in claim 19 further comprises amoisture barrier layer coupled to the absorbent layer at the bottomside.